Published: Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 9:58 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 12:40 p.m.

Earlier this week, when the Washington Post announced its second annual Most Challenging High School ranking, some people might have wondered why North Marion and Vanguard didn't make the list.

On Thursday, some answers emerged.

North Marion actually was on the list, but no one knew it.

"There was a glitch earlier in the week" in the Post's searchable database, said Dana Spencer, North Marion's Advanced International Certificate of Education coordinator.

As for Vanguard: It didn't receive a school survey, so its qualifications weren't evaluated.

Officials sent an email to the Post's Jay Mathews, who coordinated the list, and learned what had happened.

Mathews wrote back in an email to Vanguard's International Baccalaureate coordinator, Colleen Wade, stating: "I am not sure how we missed you, Colleen. Please check the contact info at the bottom of the form below and fix anything that is wrong. Then please fill out the form. Once you hit the save changes button you should be on the list in less than two days."

The Star-Banner reported on Tuesday that Lake Weir, Forest and Belleview made the list, which basically is the top 8 percent of the nation's 22,000 high schools.

The ranking is based on the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and AICE tests taken at a school, divided by the number of graduating seniors.

The AP, IB and AICE tests are rigorous, college-level exams. This means they are exceptionally harder than mainstream classroom tests.

The Post's website states that the ranking reveals a high school's commitment to preparing average students for college. It is not a ranking of performance on those tests.

<p>Earlier this week, when the Washington Post announced its second annual Most Challenging High School ranking, some people might have wondered why North Marion and Vanguard didn't make the list.</p><p>On Thursday, some answers emerged.</p><p>North Marion actually was on the list, but no one knew it.</p><p>"There was a glitch earlier in the week" in the Post's searchable database, said Dana Spencer, North Marion's Advanced International Certificate of Education coordinator.</p><p>As for Vanguard: It didn't receive a school survey, so its qualifications weren't evaluated.</p><p>Officials sent an email to the Post's Jay Mathews, who coordinated the list, and learned what had happened.</p><p>Mathews wrote back in an email to Vanguard's International Baccalaureate coordinator, Colleen Wade, stating: "I am not sure how we missed you, Colleen. Please check the contact info at the bottom of the form below and fix anything that is wrong. Then please fill out the form. Once you hit the save changes button you should be on the list in less than two days."</p><p>The Star-Banner reported on Tuesday that Lake Weir, Forest and Belleview made the list, which basically is the top 8 percent of the nation's 22,000 high schools.</p><p>The ranking is based on the total number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and AICE tests taken at a school, divided by the number of graduating seniors.</p><p>The AP, IB and AICE tests are rigorous, college-level exams. This means they are exceptionally harder than mainstream classroom tests.</p><p>The Post's website states that the ranking reveals a high school's commitment to preparing average students for college. It is not a ranking of performance on those tests.</p><p>Belleview ranked 501, North Marion ranked 1,212, Forest was 1,547 and Lake Weir was 1,778.</p><p>However, the rankings changed numerous times on Thursday as more schools were added to the list. The rankings changed by no more than 10 slots.</p><p><i>Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.</i></p>